Twilight Collision

Chapter 17: Company

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters

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""What is it?" Bella asked when she saw my defensive position.

"We've got company" I bit back a growl. Bella noticed and glanced to where I was looking, the forest just across the crater. She must have understood what I was referring to.

"Let me guess, they're not vegetarians"

"I'm afraid they're not." I groaned. I just placed Bella in a very dangerous situation and all because she was with me. I need to find a way to get out of here.

"Can we make it out of here?" She urgently asked.

"Too late. They already caught my scent" I gritted my teeth. Dammit! Why is this happening now?

I wheeled my body to face Bella. She was waiting for me to make a decision. I sniffed the air. It smelled excruciatingly delicious. I didn't think I could do anything to mask the scent but maybe...

"Bella, I'm going to try and talk my way through this before they can even get close enough." I told her in a rushed tone. "I'll introduce you as my mate. They'll assume you're a vampire immediately" She's pale enough to pass for one and as long as they're not too close to catch her scent. If they're expecting vampires, they won't try to pay attention to her heartbeat and then we can just excuse ourselves and get out of this place.

She nodded in understanding and just like that, the aura around Bella changed drastically. From her reserved posture, she was suddenly standing up straight in an erect bearing with her hands to her side. Her eyes that were usually full of emotions were now fixed in front of her, pierced, alert and unafraid. I suddenly remembered the incident at Port Angeles. She was ready for anything, she was ready to fight. I stood dumbfounded. If not for her beating heart, she could pass of as a... vampire.

We definitely need to know who she really was and what she does.

I was distracted by the changes in Bella that I almost missed the moment when they got out of the woods.

Three figures stopped just at the opposite side of the crater. They were wearing normal backpacker attires and the way they move showed they were nomads, vampires who preferred to move from one place to another. The tall and dark-haired man in the center stepped forward and his thoughts we're more on curiosity of meeting another of their kind in the area.

"We were just passing by. I am Laurent and these are James and Victoria" He spoke in a French accent while introducing the others. James wore a calculating look and his thoughts were trying to assess us. The woman, Victoria who had long wild red hair had a feline look and was darting her eyes towards our surroundings to see if there were any threat nearby.

"I'm Edward Cullen and this is my mate, Bella" I introduced, trying to sound casual. They didn't seem to see anything unusual with us being there.

"This is quite an interesting part of the forest." Laurent was referring to the crater in front of us. "Yes, this is a crash site. The humans had already disposed of what's left of the wreckage here"

"Aahhh, that explains the lingering scent" Laurent inhaled, and I stiffened. We had to get out of here before they caught Bell's scent. She was just silent beside me, observing and trying not to get any attention to herself.

"You frequent here?" The other two didn't seem to be into conversations because they let Laurent do all the talking.

"Our family maintains a permanent residence nearby" That got the attention of all three of them. I had to emphasize that it wasn't just me and Bella and that there were more of us.

What do you know? The territory is taken. Too bad. James was thinking.

There are others?! How many are they? Victoria's thoughts were suspicious.

Laurent's thoughts were in synced with what he spoke. "Family" he tested the word in his mouth. "What an odd thing to say."

"We should probably get going. We have to meet the others back home." I announced.

"Please, we don't want to keep you. We will be on our way as well" Laurent bowed his head slightly to bid us goodbye.

I placed my hand at Bella's back to lead her away and she looked at me cautiously. This was going to be tricky. We had to make sure they don't question why we had to walk away instead of just running. As much as I knew that Bella was fast, I knew that it was still not fast enough to be considered vampire speed.

We slowly turned around to leave when the wind caught Bella's hair and her scent blew all the way towards the three vampires. Three growls broke the air and in an instant, they had jumped the length of the crater and landed in front of us.

All three were crouched and were several meters apart surrounding us. There crimson eyes were darting from Bella to me as I positioned her behind me and I let out a growl of my own.

"Why... you brought a snack" James finally spoke. The monster in me surfaced and I snarled at him. I was not going to let anybody hurt her.

"We could always share" Victoria grinned wildly. That was just sick.

"I said, she's my mate" I reminded them and there was a sinister edge on my tone.

Is he serious? How could he stand that close to her? And those eyes! Why are they different?! Laurent's mind was full of questions.

Now this is getting interesting. It was James and suddenly, I was afraid for Bella. I scanned through his mind and realized that this was a mind of a skilled Tracker. Hunting was his passion and he was seeing a challenge in front of him.

Awww, I feel sorry for this one, he won't stand a chance. Victoria was already moving slowly towards us and I moved instinctively to her direction blocking Bella from her sight. She stopped.

We were at a disadvantage. I won't be able to fight them all without risking Bella's life. If only I could just stall some more. I'm sure Alice already saw this, and the family would be on their way to provide back up.

"Come now, there is no need for us to fight" Laurent's voice was soothing but the threat behind those words were clear.

"Yes, there is no need indeed" A strong and familiar voice from our right spoke and I sighed in relief. They're here. Thank you, Alice!